The wikipedia description actually makes it sound a bit more complex than it actually it. In packet-radio DAMA simply meant that the central station polled each node regularly and asked it if it has queued requests. The only thing a client was allowed to send without asking back was the "I am a new client"-message.

Germany has just shut down 8 of its 17 nuclear reactors. It still does not need to import energy (in the last years Germany exported a massive amount of energy to other countries).
Before the shutdown, Germany produced about 20% of its energy from nuclear and abount 17% from renewable energy sources (see wikipedia)

After the shutdown, Germany probably produces more power from renewable as from nuclear energy...

Since 2004 France (which has more than 40 nuclear reactors) has imported power from Germany, not the other way round.

Germany still has a (admittedly small) surplus, even after powering down 8 nuclear reactors at once. And the dependence on Germany on nuclear power is not very great -- Germany gets approximately the same amount of power from wind energy as from nuclear energy.

So, replacing the nuclear plats without depending on outside power imports is not impossible...

An anonymous reader writes: The new flash-based online community MyMiniLife allows users to build their own virtual home on a plot of real estate, make money, and buy furniture and clothing to stock their newfound nests. What makes this different from other homebuilding sites is the ability of the "minihomes" to be embedded into blogs, online profiles, and websites. It's like a simplified version of the sims with much more community-building potential.

bobbylei writes: A new flash-based online community allows users to build virtual homes on their own plot of land, make money, purchase furniture and select their own clothing. What makes this different from other virtual homebuilding sites is the ability to embed the "minihomes" into any MySpace page, blog, or website. It's like a tiny, much more manageable "Sims" with super-heightened social capabilities.
Example of an embedded home on a blog

An anonymous reader writes: Choosing sides in the high-def format war becomes that much harder this week, as two powerhouse movie franchises hit store shelves on opposing formats. Exclusive to Blu-ray are the first two "Pirates of the Caribbean" flicks, while exclusive to HD DVD are two different configurations of the "Matrix" Trilogy. So which format wins this battle? According to High-Def Digest, this one's a draw. After evaluating each of the releases in excruciating detail, ("The Ultimate Matrix Collection" & "The Complete Matrix Trilogy" on HD DVD, and "POTC: Curse of the Black Pearl" & "POTC: Dead Man's Chest" on Blu-ray) the site says both sets of releases boast benchmark video and audio, but a preponderance of standard-def supplements prevent all from being the perfect high-def package.

"Thanks to the Google agreement, the Mozilla Foundation went from revenue of nearly $6 million in 2004 to more than $52 million the next year [similar revenue is expected in 2006]...In 2005, the foundation created a subsidiary, the for-profit Mozilla Corporation,...mainly to deal with the tax and other issues related to the Google contract...By creating a corporation to run the Firefox project, Mozilla was committing to be less transparent. In part, that is because Google insists on the secrecy of "its arrangement and agreements," said board member Mitch Kapor.

The article compares this approach to Wikipedia's ongoing fundraisers and raises the issue of transparency in open source projects. i.e. should Firefox's 1,000 to 2,000 developers and 80,000 evangelists have full knowledge of how revenue is spent as well as the extent to which Google is able to influence strategy vs. other stakeholders."

gbulmash writes: "In my discussions with anti-copyright activists, I have asked what business models would replace those powered by copyright to provide creators with financial incentive to create. Four came up most often: donations, ad revenues, sponsorships, and product placement. I don't include subscription, because paying a subscription fee for the exact same product you can get for free through another channel is technically a donation.

Well, the proof is in the pudding they say. While open source software has been proven viable, open source art... kids aren't hopping buses to Hollywood to pursue dreams of becoming open source rock stars. They're after fame and fortune. So I propose a challenge to those who oppose copyright. Create 5 break-out stars in five different artistic categories who gain that stardom on the strength of works that are licensed into the public domain or via an open source license. Prove your copyright-free business models can create the levels of fame and fortune that will inspire the next generation of artists."